The Crunch Report - Week of November 20

By Michael Wax

With Thanksgiving smack dab in the middle of this week, the Crun ch put together another 2-1-0 week. Early returns saw a 4-1 loss at Utica on Nov. 22, a 3-0 shutout win against those same Comets on Nov. 24, and a 4-3 SO win vs. Laval on Nov. 25.

Syracuse sit at 10-5-0-2, three points behind a surging Cleveland Monsters team.

Before we get into what we saw this week, here is some admin:

• With the return of G Andrei Vasilevskiy, G Matt Tomkins was placed on waivers Thursday and re-assigned to the Syracuse Crunch on Friday. Tomkins put up a 1-2-0 record in three games with the Lightning, a .889 save %, and a 3.40 GAA. Barring injury to Vasilevskiy/Jonas Johansson, Tomkins should be the starter/1A for the Crunch for the rest of the season.

• The Crunch recalled D Zach Massicotte from the Orlando Solar Bears on Friday. Massicotte had played 14 games with the Solar Bears, putting up a goal and three assists as a 22-year-old LHD. No one has been placed on injury reserve as of this recording, though D Max Crozier took a nasty hit in Wednesday night’s game against Utica. It's something to keep an eye on.

Here are three things we noticed over this week's games from the Crunch:

Merelä Mania

Finally, the time to talk about Waltteri Merelä has arrived. While he hadn't struggled to fit into the NHL, his lack of offensive production left the Lightning no choice but to send him down for a bit and get some reps. This week, that worked out flawlessly.

Off the rush with Gabe Fortier and Tristan Allard, Merelä found an open seam between two Comets as Allard got the puck from a forechecking Fortier. As Allard got near the goal line and Comets defender Topias Vilen went to follow, Merelä slid by forward Ryan Schmelzer to receive a pass right at the doorstep from Allard, tap it by Erik Källgren, and get a giant weight off his shoulders.

Merelä nearly connected with Gage Goncalves for the overtime winner on Saturday as well, showing an increase in confidence just one game after scoring his first goal in North America.

Tommy Boy

In his second full season in Syracuse, defender Jack Thompson has taken a massive step forward. The 2020 3rd round pick had an up-and-down two-way week, one that saw him on the ice for three goals against and picking up three points with a team-high 13 shots on goal. Thompson has been getting into a rhythm offensively this season, nearing his stats from last year in fewer games.

His goal on the power play was an example of the type of player he can become for the Lightning in the future. Covering the first power play unit from the blue line, he picked his spot and put up a howling slap shot for his second goal of the year.

With Phil Myers consistently moving between Tampa and Syracuse, the Crunch needs a stalwart number-one defender. Hopefully, Thompson and his early season success shows he can become that player.

Ebs and Flows

This week saw three games with three different goalies. Hugo Alnefelt, Brandon Halverson, and Matt Tomkins all took their turn in the crease this past week, each with mixed results.

Halverson took the starter's role on Wednesday, saving 19/22 Utica shots before being pulled for Alnefelt. Alnefelt would stop all six shots he faced.

Despite getting pulled on Wednesday, Halverson bounced back in a big way on Friday. He would stop all 26 Utica shots for his first-ever AHL shutout:

Finally, it was Tomkins' turn in net. While he took some time to get acclimated, and the second goal he allowed was less than ideal, he rebounded well and held the fort in the 3rd period and OT before stopping all three shots in the shootout to clinch the win.

Despite their record, Goaltending has been a mess for Syracuse. With no Pyotr Kochetkov for the foreseeable future, Halverson (.896 in 6 games), Alnefelt (.889 in 8 games), and Tomkins (.875 in 1 game) will be tasked with holding the fort.

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